


Lost But Not Gone

by lezzerlee



Series: AELDWS Round 6 [10]
Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Amnesia, Community: inceptiversary, M/M, Medical Trauma, Seizures, aeldws
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-21
Updated: 2014-09-21
Packaged: 2018-02-18 05:37:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2337098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lezzerlee/pseuds/lezzerlee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eames suffers a seizure and loses his memories.</p><p>See notes at end for spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost But Not Gone

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** split perspective  
>  **Word count:** two drabbles, up to 250 words each (i.e. a combined total of 500 words)
> 
> Thanks so much to [riverlight for the beta!](http://riverlight.dreamwidth.org/)

He stares at the man in front of him, baby-faced but not young, expression getting more severe as the minutes tick by.

He can feel a gun tucked into a holster beneath his waistband and has thought about bolting, but wouldn’t know where to go.

“Fine, see you then,” the man sighs, hanging up his phone.

Eames can see the way his eyes search him, looking for recognition. He turns his head toward the window, watching as a pigeon lands on the window’s ledge.

***

The moment he walks through the door Eames can tell it’s a shared flat, a blend of opposing styles vying for space. Eames studies a painting on the wall, a distorted face twisting in on itself, grotesque. His hand skims over a patterned blanket strewn across the back of the couch.

A day later, an Indian man with a British accent and voluminous hair visits. He greets Eames like a friend, but isn’t put off when Eames doesn't return good will. When Eames refuses to let them stick him with a needle and hook him up to a machine, Yusuf leaves, saying to call if there’s no change in a week.

Eames learns that Arthur is a morning person, that he can cook, but prefers not to. Eames reads to pass the time. He sees the aborted gestures Arthur makes towards him, reaching out instinctually. Eames sees the way Arthur fiddles with a die, the way he scowls every time it rolls.

 

* * *

 

Arthur wakes to Eames seizing on the floor. It takes two agonizing minutes for Eames to sit up, and when he does, he’s groggy and can’t retain new memories. After a while, Arthur realizes that he doesn’t have memories at all.

“I need to call someone,” Arthur says, settling Eames into a chair, watching the jump of his knee, the way his eyes keep darting towards the door. It takes three calls for Yusuf to pick up.

***

Arthur unlocks their apartment. He doesn’t know where else to go, can’t take Eames to a hospital without the Somnacin showing on a toxicology report. He will, if Eames doesn’t improve, but Arthur’s holding out some hope that it’s a temporary side effect. Eames picks his way through the apartment like a stranger, staring at his own forged painting like he’s never seen it before.

Eames sleeps on the couch, and Arthur’s never felt so alone in his life.

They learn to move around each other. Arthur, who’s used to Eames’ lack of personal boundaries, keeps wanting to reach out. He wants to touch, to reassure himself that Eames is still here. The way Eames looks at him like a stranger makes him stop.

***

“Have you ever heard of anything like this?” Arthur asks, finally giving in, calling Cobb from the bedroom as Eames reads a battered copy of _The Metamorphosis_. He thumbs the die in his pocket.

“Only once,” Cobb replies.

“Did they recover?” Arthur asks.

Cobb’s silence is deafening.

**Author's Note:**

> Eames does not regain his memories, and his recovery is not promising.


End file.
